While
stalking Freebo at his house, Dexter blundered
into a scene of Freebo struggling with a stranger, and was forced to kill
the man in self defense when he attacked him. It turned out that the stranger
was Oscar Prado, brother of influential Assistant District Attorney,
Miguel Prado.

In
this scene, Dexter attends Oscar's wake.

While
there, Miguel Prado sees him near Oscar's coffin, and (unaware that it
was Dexter who killed him) misinterprets Dexter's reaction as admirable
grief for his dead brother.

It
is the start of an unfortunate relationship, as Miguel slowly begins to
draw Dexter into his orbit, virtually
forcing friendship upon the reluctant serial killer after they end up sharing
the secret of Freebo's death.

Miguel
eventually convinces Dexter to share his lethal hobby with him, unleashing
Miguel's own dark side - but one lacking the limits of Dexter's code.

Q.
What is it actually in real life?

A. A private
club, but not in Miami.

Q.
Where can I find it in real life?

A. This was
filmed inside The Ebell Club,
at 290 Cerritos Ave, in
Long Beach.

That's on the
east side of Cerritos Avenue, between 3rd Street & Bird Way,
in downtown Long Beach, less than a half mile north of the beach.

Built as a private
social club for women in 1924, the Ebell Club today serves mainly
as a venue for weddings. It's a very picturesque place, with Spanish arches
and wrought-iron stairways. The producers added flowers and a few religious
statues, to give the funeral the look of a church event.

To be more specific,
the scene was shot in the club's Courtyard. When the building was
originally built back in 1924, it was an open air courtyard with a fountain
in its center, but an earthquake in the 1930's damaged the building, and
when they rebuilt the place, they added a roof (and removed the fountain).

The club has its own website, at www.ebellclub.com.
(To see photos of the Courtyard where the scene was shot, click on the
"Photo Gallery" link and then click on "The Courtyard"
link.)

It's less than
a mile from the rooftop where
they filmed the angry confrontation between Dexter and Miguel Prado. And
it's less than a mile east of three other third season locations: the supermarket,
the donut shop and the cleaners.
And it's about a mile northeast of Shoreline Village, where they've filmed
many Dexter scenes over the years.

Q.
How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A. I
usually don't bother with interiors, since they are often just studio sets.
But it was clear that this wasn't a set. Eventually, I was tipped to the
fact that it was shot at a Long Beach wedding venue, and knowing that,
I was quickly able to identify it through a fairly simple Google search,
verifying it with the Club's own photos of the building's interior.